"The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart." – Helen Keller

STILL HOPE FOR SCRAPPY, CAGE MODIFICATION

It has been an emotional roller coaster with Scrappy! At the beginning of the week I was sure that I would have to let her go. Which ever position I put her in her hospital cage is where she stayed. She didn’t even move away from her bowel movement. She wouldn’t lift her head to look at me. I made the vet appointment for Thursday.

Until then, I continued with water therapy, stretching exercises and lots of cuddles. Her right shoulder remains dislocated. On Thursday morning, Scrappy would lift her head and her eyes would follow me. She could support her head while eating her duck soup. During the stretching exercises it became very evident that the whole right side of the body was compromised. The dislocated shoulder and the nerve compression all the way down to her right back leg. She cannot weight bear, but if you stroke the back of the leg she will move it forward.

Scrappy, 3 weeks after the accident

My vet took the x-rays on Thursday. She didn’t have a broken back. Nerve compression does not show on an x-ray,however her toe curling indicated nerve damage. Dr. Singh is not one to give up and so we went to plan C. We would do 6 deep tissue laser treatments. The MFA just couldn’t afford this but he kindly offered the treatments at 50% off. This is still a $150.00 touch which is a big bite out of our limited finances. Dr. Singh also suggested that we try giving her 4 drops a day of the children’s B complex formula. The B complex is a nerve tonic and will help with the necessary healing of the nerves. The gentleman at Sangsters didn’t bat an eye when I told him the B complex was for a ferret. Apparently years ago, his son owned a ferret! What a small world!

Meanwhile, I have 4 or 5 Ferret Nation cages with the second version shelving just like what Scrappy hurt herself on. It’s not like I have empty cages to move the ferrets into until the new plastic pans for the Ferret Nation cages arrive. I have been fretting like crazy. These cages were in use for several years before the injury and yet I am holding my breath praying no one else gets hurt before the shelves get here.

Now anyone who knows me well, knows that I can fix just about anything with 2 items. I am never without these items. Don’t laugh once you find out because by god they have saved many a day! If DUCT TAPE won’t hold it together, then bring on the drill and ZIP TIES. I have zip ties in black, green and white!

I have zip tied a castor back onto the base of a cage turning a useless donated cage into one that I am still using. I have zip tied J food hoppers to the cage so that ferrets don’t knock them over. I have zip tied shelving to the cage bars to keep them in place. I even zip tied the catch trays for all the litter boxes.

So, duct tape won’t work on the shelf edges as too many of the ferrets will chew on the tape and give themselves a blockage. So…… on to zip ties. How can I make the shelf safer for now. Well I could see the gap where the plastic insert the the metal cross piece left enough room for a paw to get trapped under. Drill a few holes for the zip ties and voila, no more gap! At least any ferret wanting to jump off the shelf into a hammock won’t catch their paws. There is still a small gap from the edge of the plastic to the frame but I can’t close that gap and not sure a paw would fit in the space.

plastic insert zip tied to the metal cross piece and closing the gap

I am hoping the new shelving arrives at Pembina, North Dakota in the next 7 to 10 days. Then I just have to pray the weather cooperates so I can drive down and pick them up!